Lets Create A Story

[ike0481]

Lets create a story. I'll begin by starting it off with a few words and I'd like each of you to write a post that adds a little bit to the story. Just come up with something and post it and the next person will do the same. Lets see what we create.

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They were a band of roaming nomads. For centuries they wandered aimlessley without any form of permanate settlement. They spent their lives searching for food and water and once the local resources had been depleted, they migrated on to a new untamed wilderness where they would continue their way of life as they had done for so many generations before, always roaming, always searching.........

[Coinich]

Over time, the nomadic bands found there were many fertile grasslands. The nomads had also discovered ways to till the soil and more than double a season's grain output. Additionally, some discovered they had skill at building wide pathways (known as roads) to more easily move grain and other products around their large campsites. The wanderlust gone, from years of leading a nomadic lifestyle, the elders of the group decided to settle the fertile grasslands permanently. This weary group of nomads founded the village of Rome. They chose a leader from within their ranks... and gave him complete authority over the villagers. His name was Ceasar.

[Captain]

Caesar's first order of business was consolidating his rule against the minority of dissidents. Forming a loyal cadre of warriors and with the assent of the elders, he had every male of age undergo a ritual of allegiance to him. To make this more palatable, the oath was given towards the spirit of the tribe - which he, of course, was imbued with. Thus, the nomadic tribe became the Roman people. Anyone refusing this oath was immediately cast out from society. If they ever returned, they would be treated as the Romans had treated their rival tribes. Split from nave to chops! And Caesar's personal honour guard, in between sporadic raids on enemy tribes, became very well versed in this particular art. Caesar was quite pleased... except for those nagging doubts about his right-hand man Naldo's loyalty. Especially as Naldo was the head of the guard.

[hetairoi22]

Naldo was a great warrior and had always been quite loyal to Ceasar, but he had become tired of Ceasar's rule, which was becoming more and more brutal and dispotic. 20% of all crops were to be sent directly to him as taxes and those who refused ... were executed on the market place. The elders had lost all power and Ceasar ruled all and everything! Naldo had sent out a patrol to explore the land beyond the Great Mountains Beyond Alberaque. Alberaque was the fertile plains to the west of the City. Though thought to be impassible, the patrol had found a way through the Great Mountains. A tunnel as a matter of fact. On the other side of the Mountains lay even more fertile land and valuable and after many months of planning and scheming Naldo desided that he, and his followers, were to live thither beyond the Mountains! A new land, ruled by himself and a council of elders. A free world where the leader was decided upon of the people. And so he travelled away, beneath the dark night sky, with his men (2500 people, both men and women, a fifth of the City's populace) and half of the City's rations of food to the New Land... Ceasar discovered naught about the "expidition" until day...

[ElDiablo]

Caesar was furious! How dare his loyal head of the guard take away a huge amount of his people on an exodus from his "tyrannical rule" as these rebels called it. Caesar ordered his generals to harness the horses they found near Rome and take an army of horsemen to capture these mutineers and bring them back to face him. Naldo would rue the day that he crossed the immortal Caesar.
Caesar watched as his troops rode off towards the Mountains. An evil grin grew upon his face. He knew what to do with Naldo once he was captured.

[Captain]

Meanwhile, Naldo was ever watchful. He knew his former master would not forgive his treachery. It may take years for Caesar to find him but Caesar could be counted on to bear a grudge.

Naldo would have no rest until either he or Caesar went unto his ancestors. And with the Spirit of the Tribe vested in Caesar, he could not hope to wait him out. Naldo would grow old and die, but only the sword could kill Caesar.

No, even though the Great Mountains stood between their respective cities, Naldo knew the day would come when they would clash.

The council elders knew this was true. And they knew Caesar would certainly not give them to leeway to rule the city as freely as Naldo did. Naldo knew his place was as a warrior, not an administrator and he left the city's daily tasks to the elders. Although they knew Caesar had a mightier army, and spies had told them of a new secret weapon... great beasts that thundered across the ground and cut down warriors like so much wheat... they knew Naldo was not the former head of the guard for nothing.

So Naldo's great plan was put into action with the solid support of the people. He kept sentries by the tunnel's exit with a great chain of fire beacons ready to be lit upon sighting the enemy. For although the tunnel was a secret, if Naldo had found it, so could Caesar.

Ditches were dug, fortifications made, and soon a city wall was completed around the city of Citadel (as the elders had named it). The job was pushed through rapidly to the displeasure of the labourers but the council of elder's paid extremely well and all was forgotten.

And Naldo continued his explorations, bringing him in contact with several minor tribes. He made alliances with those he felt trustworthy and exterminated those who were not. Some of the plunder went to pay for the Council's city improvements plan. The Goths were his foremost allies and the benefits were great. Learning pottery they could build these "granaries" to store crops for long periods of time. And soon, with intermarriage, they started a second city, Verdanis, further to the north with access to the great forest and its abundant game. Naldo's scouts ventured further and further, followed by streams of warriors, and the rewards were astonishing.

In a joint campaign against the Vandals, the valiant Goths also showed him a new method of fighting. Excellent in defensive value, the Goths used this technique to halt the Vandal advances. They cut young trees, sharpened their ends and hardened the points in fire. They called these... spears.

But would all this be enough to stop Caesar? In all this time, surely he must have amassed a tremendous army! And what of these mysterious "horses"... who made a warrior fast as the wind and more powerful than the ox?

--- Sorry for posting twice so closely together, I just noticed no one else was posting and I wanted to revive it ---

[johncmcleod]

And so on a fresh May morning sentries spotted a great red and brown glob heading towards them with great speed. At first, they didn't have the slightest notion of what it was, and then they realized the terror they'd be in for. The glob was thousands of men mounted on horseback.

Trumpets rang out. The fire beacons were lit. The people of the new nation, now called Anklodus, were alerted of the armies heading their way. They hid in newly built underground cellars while the armies of Anklodus went to their fortifications to wait for the upcoming onslaught.

The horsemen spotted the tunnel quickly and flung themselves at the gates. The sentinels were mowed down. It looked as if the Romans would smash right by the guard and flow through the tunnels towards the people of Anklodus.

A brave soldier named Kucol tried to rally the other sentinels. He charged at the horsemen. It looked as if he was invincible. He chopped down the oncoming horseman with unbelievable speed. His men started to fight with a new vigor.

Right at that time, starnge horns could be heard off in the distance. A huge wave of soldiers with a dark brown skin color flung themselves at the Romans. The Roman attackers started to be thrown back. These dark skinned people called themselves the Zulu.

[Captain]

it's like you read my mind with that twist (though I was thinking Persians...)

anyhow, any takers? donate a paragraph or two or ten! I'm curious to see where this story goes...

new writers welcome! returns by ike, coinich, hetairoi, eldiablo, and johnmcleod would be great too!

[Richelieu]

Shaka can't

On the top of a nearby hill, Shaka watched as the Impi warriors slowly but surely were decimating the Roman troops. The Romans were at a tactical disadvantage: their plan had been to take the city, not fight wave after wave of Impis pouring on their flank.
With the warriors of Anklodus now coming out of the city, the victory was only a matter of time. And still, the leader of the Zulus was furious.

Shaka looked down at the corpse of the army commander at his feet. He’d had Wazahari executed a few minutes before. He knew he should have waited for the battle to be over but he simply could not stop himself.
“Why couldn’t he wait?” he said under his breath. “This was a perfect situation for us.”

Weeks before, his scouts had discovered the new city. Soon, they had brought back the news of this new nation forming to the east. Shaka had called upon the elders and explained the situation, then sought their advice.
“We started exploring to the west: that was our mistake. There is nothing there but snow and mountains. And when we turned to the east we found this…” he said showing them the map of the explored territories.
Zimbabwe was a beautiful city, in the middle of a plain with luscious grass and cattle and a series of hills to the south, one of which they had found gold in. Aside from that, their territory was ill equipped to sustain the growing population. The capital stood at the entrance of a small peninsula that expanded to the west where there were few if any resources. Shaka soon realized that they had to expand east if they wanted to survive. That’s when the scouts had brought back the reports about Citadel and the Anklodus.
The elders agreed with him. There was only one way out of this: invasion. The orders were sent to the three settler bands in the west peninsula.
"Find the most productive lands you can and establish a city. Then, train warriors and send them to Zimbabwe."
Soon, the Zulus were marching towards Citadel. Wazahari, the most experienced of the warriors was at their head. He was a young and impetuous man but Shaka knew that his loyalty could not be questioned. But when the first units came over the hill and looked down on the city, Wazahari went mad: someone was trying to steal his glory, his prize. He gave the order to attack the invaders.

Shaka kicked the head of the dead man and sent it rolling down the hill. If that idiot had waited, he Romans would have weakened the Citadel defenders. They themselves would have been battered.
And Shaka would have easily captured the city.
“You may be responsible for the demise of our whole civilization.” he mumbled. As the last of the Romans were being slaughtered by the Impis, the Anklodus warriors were getting back inside the city. Shaka knew that men hardened by the fire of battle would be tougher to beat. Many of them were now veterans and one of them was even elite now – they were carrying him on their shoulders, shouting his name.
“ KUCOL, KUCOL, KUCOL”
The Zulus had lost half their men. And even though there were now veterans among his own remaining forces, Shaka knew that he would not be able to conquer the city.

When a delegation from Citadel came out of the city to bring gifts and invite them to a feast to be held outside the city walls, Shaka knew that they were on to him.
The Zulus headed back towards Zimbabwe. They would live to fight on another day.

[Richelieu]

You want fast?

Captain : I read your mind! (Look at the time time of your post and then look at mine...)

[johncmcleod]

At about that time, Shaka had a revelation. He just all of the sudden changed. He decided not to invade Anklodus. The land he wanted was theirs. He wouldn't steal it. And he decided he would help them in their war against the Romans.

Wazahari became sane again and became one of the main leaders of the coalition assault. Kucon was chosen to be the commander of the Ankloducian forces. It was the greatest ranking jump in all of Ankloducian history.

The campaign against the Romans was swift and decisive. The coalition forces seemed unbeatable. City after city was captured quickly with minimal coalition losses. Coalition forces crashed in from all sides. Every Roman city had been razed or captured except Rome, which was in the middle of the Roman empire.

Massive bombardments of the city of Rome began. They lasted for several long and intense years. Rome became nothing but a heap of rubble and a couple of hiding citizens and soldiers. Coalition forces marched in on the capital and captured it. Orders were carried out to capture Caesar alive. He was and was brought to Naldo. If Naldo singlehandedly and fairly killed Caesar, he would be given eternal youth like caesar. So the fight began.

The swordfight lasted for 20 long minutes until Caesar was struck by a hard blow at the shoulder. He staggered, and was beheaded. So Naldo now had eternal youth.

The next 15 years were uneventful and peaceful for Anklodus and Zululand. The armies built back up to their normal strenght, and though they didn't know it at the time, the would need them badly. The didn't know it, but for the last 20 years they had been secretly watched by Russia. And Russia didn't have good intentions.

Zulu coastal guards spotted a huge Russian invasion fleet heading straight for them. Anklodus was alerted and the fire beacons were lit for the second time in the young nation history. Kucon and Wazahari prepared their men for battle.

[Sovy Kurosei]

Wasn't Wazahari executed?

[Captain]

Re: You want fast?

Originally posted by Richelieu
Captain : I read your mind! (Look at the time time of your post and then look at mine...)

[Captain]

Originally posted by Sovy Kurosei
Wasn't Wazahari executed?

yeah, I noticed that too. but just wait a few minutes and I've got something to solve that consistency problem... I think...

[Captain]

The Russian Armada bearing down upon their shores could not come at a better time. Over the last 15 years of peace, the close alliance forged by the sharing of shed blood and hard-won battles was wearing thin. Wazahari was glad that war was once more upon them. After the execution of his elder brother at the hands of Shaka, Manewa had taken on the name of his brother as was the Zulu tradition. Once he had overcome his grief, he served with distinction in the Zulu army against Rome, his promotion running an uncannny parallel to that of Kucol's in the Anklodian army. But the past fifteen years of peace had seen his importance diminish and his sense of purpose evaporate. He was not alone.

After the war, the tens of thousands of young men in Shaka's Impi armies finally returned home. But what was there for a young man freshly returned from the army to do? They had known nothing but war their entire lives.
Without the structure of the army to instill discipline and give meaning and purpose to these hot-blooded warriors, they nearly went rampant upon the return to their native villages. In fact, Shaka's massive recruitment project had stripped most villages of their young men over thirty five years ago. Shaka had foreseen manpower troubles and had fostered a program to encourage high birth rates. Now Zululand was heavily overpopulated and twice in the last decade riots had engulfed nation (twelve out of thirteen towns rioted), even burning the glorious temple in Zimbabwe down. Shaka's heavy handed measures were contrasted to the noble Republican ideals of the Anklodus nation. In fact, two small Zulu towns near the Anklodus border had even revolted and joined Anklodus, to the ire of Shaka. Shaka had his hands full at this time but he would not forget this. Though an ally, Anklodus remained a threat by holding out the promise of a better life under a Republic. Even worse, Naldo was now immortal. He could no longer hope Naldo would pass on in a few decades. Barring misfortune, Shaka would now have to deal with this resourceful man for centuries...

Anklodus lay like a gleaming jewel to the east. With the recent addition of the two Zulu towns, Bapedi and Ulundi, the Anklodus nation now had seven cities to its claim - crowned by the magnificent Citadel where construction of a great bronze statue was nearly completed. It would be called, the Colossus.

Verdanis to the north continued to produce beautiful silks that the Zulus greatly admired as well as exporting to them some fine incense. The young city of Aden to the east was set along a river coursing between very fertile fields and gently rolling hills. It held great promise for the future if they could overcome the seasonal flooding. Most recently founded was Havensport by the Eastern coast of the Anklodian Republic. The first ships had just been built to explore further and a new great project was being debated in the city square. The city of New Roma, constructed over the ruins of fifteen years before, was just beginning to prosper, thanks to the strong efforts at domesticating the few remaining wild horses and breeding them back to former levels.

All of these Shaka longed for, and Naldo was not ignorant of these aspirations.

But what Naldo feared most was Shaka retaking the city of Ulundi, for it was there, along the border in the hills of Ulun, that there was large deposit of a curiously strong metal. They called it, iron... and it would not be long before Shaka determined its critical importance.

It was only fifteen years ago in that epic duel that Naldo discovered its value. While Naldo was not old, he did not have the youthful vigor of Caesar. Naldo had always been stronger, but age had made him slower, and strength was no use if you couldn't hit your target. It didn't take much strength to pierce flesh either so that wasn't much of an advantage.

But the Council of Elders in Citadel had sent him a gift for this match. The reknowned inventor Recife had recently discovered this material that was stronger than bronze, stronger that almost anything else out there. And he had constructed three gifts for Naldo: a breastplate of iron, a shield of iron, and a sword of iron. With these, though Caesar struck at him hundreds of times and even managed to get in a death blow four times, the breastplate saved Naldo. It was that fourth attack where Caesar had driven home a jab under Naldo's shield where Naldo smashed his shield down upon Caesar's shoulder - the rim of the iron shield nearly cleaving Caesar in two. It would have killed an ordinary man instantly. As Caesar lay crippled, the Tribal Spirit left him and without that supernatural power...

When the Spirit came upon him, Naldo felt a surge of power. His youthfulness partly restored, as he flexed his muscles he felt the power of his prime return. Moreover, he gained a special insight - it was as though he could feel the pulse of his nation. The spirit of each of his warriors lifting him high, and later, the relief and celebration in the spirits of every person in the nation. But there was darkness too. He felt the weariness of the people after such a long war, and the anguish at having fought their own kin. The pain of having destroyed their own ancestral land. This was when Naldo ordered the reconstruction of New Roma.

Unlike Zululand, the next fifteen years of Anklodus history were a cause for joy. With the Republican form of government, the enterprising people of Anklodus settled new cities and built new improvements, working the land irrigating and constructing roads. Two mines were built near Citadel bringing the city's production to an unprecedented high. With this great new wealth, the Council rush-built many things emptying the treasury several times over. It seemed everything was perfect... if not for the increasing stream of Zulu refugees and the rising tension between the two nations. One year ago, a band of rogue Impi, some say motivated by Shaka himself, had planted themselves along the main road from Citadel to Verdanis and waylaid everyone who traversed it. Some among the Council suspected Shaka was fostering anti-Anklodian sentiment amongst his warriors to offset his own personal notoriety. It was working - Shaka's popularity rose as he heaped the blame for their nation's current problems upon Anklodian exploitation and oppression. If they were truly allies, Shaka claimed they would share their wealth and their wonderful technologies. It was true that Anklodus was shrewd in its dealings with Zululand and very secretive of its new discoveries, but it was a stretch to call that oppression. Anklodus had survived against great odds by being protective and vigilant, and they would continue to do so.

Still, people are always easy to convince when it comes to putting the blame for their unhappiness on someone else. The Impi especially considered the dominion of this continent as their manifest destiny and the Anklodians as both obstacle and oppressor. There was no outright war and Shaka was quite genial with Naldo, but hostility was on the rise and the Impi took every chance at provocation they could. In that particular episode, they finally got a response. Silk and incense shipments were severely delayed until an Anklodian swordsmen regiment arrived and the Impi fled.

The problem was that Kucol had ordered the regiment there without Naldo's approval. Naldo had of course approved the action later, but Kucol had criticized him for not acting quickly enough in the face of Zulu aggression. In fact, Kucol had been so forthright as to call for war with Shaka. Naldo knew that while Anklodian superior technology and wealth would win out over Zulu numbers, the peace and prosperity they had worked for so long would be the first casualty of the war. They hadn't the speed or manpower currently available to prevent waves of Impi from pillaging the land and enslaving workers outside the city walls. So Naldo had been cautious, and now, it seemed there might be a problem with Kucol. Naldo was no tyrant but he knew Kucol's hotbloodedness might get them into trouble. Especially with Shaka just itching for an excuse to take back the two rebel Zulu cities.

So Naldo had sent Kucol to the coast. Havensport had just completed a fleet to explore the waters and Recife's son, also an ingenius man, had an idea he called the "Great Lighthouse". It would help their ships navigate better, but was very ambitious. Naldo had hoped Kucol might contribute to the effort there - perhaps in some inspiring way. But now, with the threat of a Russian invasion, Kucol might be recalled to form an army to meet this new threat. For they knew nothing of the Russians except that the great white sails of their ships were approaching and neither they, nor the Zulus, had a navy capable of stopping them before they landed.

Soon, they would find out just how much of a threat they were up against...and in the face of this, will the alliance hold or will hostilities break out? Where will loyalties fall?